Little Sister Was Born Trouble
by Tigergirl
Summary: Third in the Series. Life is finally quiet for Emily. It's her last year of college and she's planning the wedding to the love of her life. After a horrible thunderstorm, Emily discovers her whole world has been turned upside down once again. How can she change everything back when she's not sure of who to trust?
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Little Sister Was Born Trouble

**Author:** Tigergirl

**Rated:** T

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Ronin Warriors, only Emily.

**Summary: **Third story in the series. Life is finally quiet for Emily. It's her last year of college and she's planning the wedding to the love of her life. After a horrible thunderstorm, Emily discovers her whole world has been turned upside down once again. How can she change everything back when she's not sure of who to trust?

CHAPTER ONE

It was a beautiful afternoon at Pineview College. A morning storm had lowered the temperature and humidity. Now a double rainbow could be seen against the clear blue sky. Emily jogged down the stairs of the library and started on her trek back to her apartment.

She took a deep breath, sucking in the fresh air, before releasing it. She felt so at ease as she thought about the current events in her life. She had started preparing for her wedding to Rowen only a month ago. She was in her fourth and final year at Pineview and he had proposed to her in her freshmen year of college.

Thinking on that matter brought back other memories. It stirred up memories of the dynasty, memories of Talpa, and memories of the warlords. She remembered well how the three warlords had apparently stalked her and her older brother, Sage, five years ago. Then, once she was alone they had kidnapped her back to the dynasty. That had been the worst week of her life with discovering her untapped power unknowingly given to her by the ronins. It had ended when the ronins had arrived and Ryo had summoned the Inferno, thus supposedly destroying the opposition.

"If only it had been that easy," Emily murmured with a small chuckle.

Emily stopped at the curb and glanced both ways down the road before crossing along the crosswalk. At the end of her first semester of her freshmen year, she had unknowingly and unintentionally met the fourth warlord, Anubis. The ability to see through Dais' illusions caused Emily to panic when not one, but all four warlords made an appearance. It had been a confusing second semester of activity that had involved several encounters with the warlords in which Emily had had the pleasure of driving the full power of a lightning bolt through the Warlord of Corruption.

And it felt _so_ good to do that, Emily said to herself.

In a bid to lure her out, the Dark Warlords had nearly killed her roommate which had caused her to drain her energy healing him. This had sealed her fate in once again becoming a…"guest" of the warlords. They had forced her to reveal the location of the dynasty gate she had hidden and had dragged her unwillingly back into the Nether Realm. The biggest shock of her life was what had happened next.

Emily took out her card and scanned it before opening the sidewalk gate for residents. She stopped near the front gate at the mail kiosk to check her mailbox. Surprisingly, it was empty

today.

The warlords had taken Emily to a place within the Nether Realm that had been drowning in pure energy. Together with the combined power of the warlords' armors and her ronin energy had brought forth a new armor. _The Dark Inferno_. The ronins almost hadn't survived that encounter and she had literally died. Thankfully, the Shadow ancestors had been able to bring her back.

We overcame all of that and permanently sealed the dynasty gates. Even if they lived through that, they'll never be able to get through to here again, Emily thought.

Walking past her parked motorcycle, she walked up the steps to her apartment. She unlocked her apartment door and walked in. Life had been especially quiet since Tom had moved out. She missed her best friend dearly, but he was having an exciting time with his post-graduation internship in D.C. The young adult was happy her friend would be back after Christmas to move back home.

A familiar White German Shepherd bounded into the room after hearing the front door close. Cooper jumped up to stand on his hind legs and licked Emily's face as he leaned his paws on her shoulders. She laughed as she accepted the kisses on her cheek before stepping back for Cooper to drop back down.

"Been a good boy, Coop?" Emily asked cheerfully, scratching him behind the ears.

The intelligent dog bobbed his head up and down. Thinking of her canine companion reminded Emily of the other shocking turn of events that had occurred in the beginning of her freshmen year of college. After Rowen had proposed to her, Sage had told her of a shocking family secret that had tilted her world upside down.

She was adopted. Emily Annalise Date had been born Emily Annalise Wolfe. Her mother, Annalise, had died giving birth to her. She had only been with her father, Andrew, for a few months when their village had been attacked. He had been gravely injured when his longtime best friend and brother in everything but blood had come to his side.

The man had been unable to save him, but had helped make him as comfortable as possible. He had also promised his best friend to find a safe home for his daughter. Her father's best friend and her Godfather had turned out to be the Ancient One. He had felt Talpa rising in power and knew she would not be safe in the Nether Realm.

He had gone into the Mortal Realm where he had searched for a family. After three days of searching, he still did not feel he had found the right family. He had used the power of the Staff of the Ancients to foresee into the future. He saw five young men in armors that resonated Talpa's power.

It had not taken long to locate one of the families, the Date Family. He knew their son would be the future bearer of one of Talpa's armors and he knew Emily's placement with them would be best. As luck would have it, the Date's had just learned that it would be impossible for them to have any more children after Satsuki.

When the strange man with long, snow white hair had appeared on their doorstep with the young infant, it had seemed like a dream.

"_I cannot care for her and she will need a loving family to take her in. Please consider my offer_," he had told them.

They had not hesitated in the least to take her into their arms and home. The Ancient One had collected several documents on her family's medical history from both sides of the family so as to make life easier for them. The three children – Yayoi, Sage, and Satsuki – had been so young and hadn't questioned why they suddenly had a younger sibling. They had been too excited over the baby to question her sudden appearance.

Emily knew all of this because the Ancient One had appeared before her again during the winter holidays. He had told her all she had wanted to know about her parents and it had explained so much. She had quickly adopted the spirit as a second father.

Emily let back a sob as she followed Cooper into the living room. Thinking of her Godfather forced her to bridge the connection and think of her Grandfather of twenty-one years. His body had become weakened over time and he had finally passed away last March.

A loud banging from her door broke her out of her thoughts.

"Em, my arms are full! Come get the door, sis!"

Emily smiled as she pushed herself off the couch and jogged over to the apartment door. She pulled it open to reveal her older brother Sage with his arms full of grocery bags. Or what should have been her brother. The man who stood in her doorway had dark brown hair, light green eyes, a ring embedded in his bottom lip, and a circle tattoo of ying and yang on the side of his neck.

Laughing, Emily took some of the bags from her brother and they carried them into the kitchen. Sage grabbed up the bag of items for the bathroom and walked away while Emily opened a cabinet to stash away a can of Spaghettio's.

"How did your disguise work out?" Emily asked.

"A lot better than I thought. I ran into Elizabeth Ann and she didn't recognize me at all. In fact, I think she almost called the police on me," Sage answered from the bathroom.

As he came back, he pulled off a silver watch he had been wearing around his wrist. After the watch left his wrist, his appearance dissolved away to his normal appearance. Sage handed the watch back to her. During those three years, she had been experimenting around with the power she had gained from the warlord armors. She had recently discovered she could create an illusion and have it last a long time without her needing to focus on keeping it "active." All she had to do was focus on the image while holding an object that the person could wear such as a watch or necklace. It appeared it could work for at least a few hours without any show of wearing down.

Emily pulled a packed bag of Boar's Head ham which immediately brought Cooper back to her side. She laughed as she opened the packaging to pull out a thin slice of ham and handed it down to him. Cooper took it with a big grin and darted away to eat his prize in peace.

"By the way," Sage said. "I didn't appreciate that little trick of yours."

Emily turned around to smile innocently at him. "What trick?"

Sage shot his sister an annoyed look.

"You know darn well what you did, Emily Annalise."

Emily cracked from an innocent smile to a teasing grin. He was right; she knew good and well what he was referring to. At the bottom of her grocery list had been a certain feminine product she was low on.

"Your own fault for offering to do my grocery shopping, Sage," she teased.

He merely grunted in response as Emily proceeded with unpacking the groceries. She unpacked the bags in silence until all of the recyclable bags were empty. During that time, Sage had decided to check out Emily's recent paintings. While Tom was gone, she used his room as an art studio. As Emily stuffed the recyclable bags under the kitchen sink, she noticed her brother walk out of the room with a surprised look on his face.

"What?" Emily said.

Sage pointed over his shoulder while speaking.

"That…_thing_ surprised me. When did you paint _that_?" Sage asked.

Emily chuckled as she walked around the bar counter and stools to stand in front of her brother.

"I started it this summer and I just finished a few weeks ago. Do you like it?"

"It's frighteningly accurate in its details."

Emily clasped her hands in front of her with a smile.

"What time is your flight again?" Emily asked him.

"Six," Sage answered.

Emily glanced at the clock on the stove and sighed. She reminded her brother they would have to leave in about an hour if they wanted to be early to the airport. Traffic was going to be a nightmare and he would be cutting it very close if they left any later.

"You only have your backpack of stuff, right?" Nod. "Do you mind if we take my bike instead of Tom's car?"

Sage thought on it for only a moment before agreeing. For the next hour, the two siblings did odds and ends around the house. Emily finished a chess game with Cooper, Sage finished packing, and the two watched an old episode of The Big Bang Theory. Soon it was time for them to leave.

Emily grabbed up her helmet and spare helmet. She tossed the spare helmet to Sage as he walked out the apartment door. He caught it easily and jogged down the steps with it.

"I'll be back later tonight, Coop!" Emily called over her shoulder.

The only response she got was a single bark. Emily firmly shut the door behind, but didn't bother locking the door. No one would dare try breaking into her apartment with Cooper there. When she got downstairs, Sage was standing next to her motorcycle and was securely putting the helmet on. Emily pulled her helmet on and climbed onto the bike. Sage climbed on behind her with ease.

Emily started the engine and revved it up. She backed out of the parking space carefully before pulling her legs up and driving off. Confident with his sister's driving abilities, Sage kept his hands on his knees and simply enjoyed the ride. He made sure to lean the same way as Emily when she turned the motorcycle to the right to jump onto the interstate.

Sage was shocked by how quickly they arrived at the airport. Emily parked in the short term parking lot and followed her brother into the building. They checked the flight to make sure it was still leaving at the right time before deciding to stand around while waiting. They had about a half hour before the flight would start calling for the passengers.

"It's going to be nice to have you back after graduation. The weather will be wonderful at home for the wedding," Sage commented.

Having had his head turned to look at something, he missed the shocked expression on Emily's face and the mouthed string of curses.

"I thought Rowen told you."

Sage turned his head back around to look at his sister. He frowned.

"Told me what?"

Emily took a deep breath and a small step backwards so she could get some breathing space.

"Rowen and I aren't getting married back in Japan. We're planning to marry here in the States," Emily explained.

Sage's eyes went wide and his mouth threatened to drop open.

"What are you planning to do _after_ the wedding?" Sage slowly questioned.

Emily grinned sheepishly which immediately made Sage tense up. He was shocked even more as Emily proceeded to explain to him how Rowen was going to move to the States with her. She was already applying to Graduate Schools to work on her Master's degree after graduation. She knew she wanted to become a Guidance Counselor, but she wasn't sure about working at the high school or college level.

"Wha-? Why? Why would you do this?" Sage demanded in a low voice.

Emily frowned. What exactly was he accusing her of? Marrying the love of her life and actually having a life?

"_I_ am not doing anything. Rowen _and_ I came to this decision _together_," she growled in a warning tone.

"I find that hard to believe."

Sage instantly regretted his words. He had spoken before really thinking about it. The mixed look on Emily's face told him how shocked she was about his words. The shock was quickly replaced with flashing eyes and a growl as Emily took a step forward.

"_How_. _Dare_. _**You**_? Rowen and I have been discussing this since _last year_. This has become my home now and _he_ understands that. We plan to have a small ceremony and those we care about will be able to make it out here," Emily spat at him.

Sage couldn't argue with Emily's reasoning, but he still couldn't let it go just like that. He dropped his voice to a low murmur so as not to draw attention to them.

"All of our family and friends are back home in Japan. What are you going to tell them?" he asked.

"They will respect the decision we have made and, regardless of _their_ feelings, _we_ have made our decision. I would hope as my brother you would respect my choice. Our choice." Emily's voice dropped to an almost inaudible tone. "Apparently, I was wrong."

With that said, Emily turned away from her brother, snatched up her motorcycle helmet from the ground and started to walk away.

"Emily."

The blonde woman stopped, but didn't turn around to face her brother. She was afraid the rage would let loose if she did.

"How are you and Rowen going to make a living here? You only have an hourly job right now and you plan to go straight into Graduate School after graduation. You haven't thought this through."

Emily's gloved hands tightened into fists. 1…2…3…4…screwball! To Hell with the counting! Emily whipped around and, before Sage could even blink, punched him. Sage staggered back clutching his eye.

I can't believe she just hit me, Sage said to himself.

As he clutched his eye and wondered if it was actually starting to bleed, he tuned in to what Emily was saying. Or rather, snarling.

"You are _not_ my father. **Or Andrew**. Both of them would just be proud of me for finding someone who has made me happy. _Unlike what you are doing __**right now**_. Some brother you are. Unsupportive and an absolute ass!"

If the blonde half-Shadow had any regrets over the words she had just uttered, she didn't let it show. Without another word, Emily turned away angrily and stormed off. Sage stood there shocked. He and his sisters had had their fair share of arguments in the past, but none had ever been severe as this one.

/…/

Emily finished brushing her teeth. When she spat it out in the sink, she wasn't surprised to see her gums had started bleeding. She had been brushing a little harder than usual. She took a few deep calming breaths as she washed her toothbrush and gargled some mouthwash. She spat it out in the sink, wiped her mouth on a towel, and turned off the bathroom light.

She entered her bedroom and closed the door behind her. Emily was alone for the night since Cooper had chosen to spend some time with Rowen. She crawled under her covers and snapped off the lamp on the bedside table.

Emily rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. All that she could think of was her argument with Sage. She kept replaying it over and over in her head. Both of them had exchanged harsh words yet they had spoken their minds. Emily sighed. She would give it a few days before she _calmly_ contacted her brother.

With another large sigh, she buried her face into her pillow and fell into a fitful bout of sleep.

/…/

/Unknown location/

"Finally. After years of searching, I've finally found it."

Intricate designs and symbols adorned the relic. Loud cackling filled the night air.

"Soon the world will fall to its knees. And none of the warriors will be able to stop me."

END OF CHAPTER ONE

**I hope you all enjoy the first chapter to "Little Sister was Born Trouble." Just remember to Read **_**AND**_** Review. Reviews do wonders for us writers! Thank you. **


	2. Chapter 2

**jrzgrl02:** Glad you like the new series! You never know with these two siblings. As for Rowen, read below to find out. I'm hoping some more of my reviewers will pop back up. Always look forward to your reviews!

CHAPTER TWO

"You actually said that to him?" Samuel asked, surprised.

It had been almost a week ago when Emily and Sage are argued with each other. Emily nodded to Samuel.

Almost four years she had been at Pineview and she still saw Dr. Samuel once a week. Except this time they met for lunch. Each week they picked a different location and traded off paying for the meals. Emily finished taking a sip of her milkshake before pushing it aside.

"I did. He just…made me so angry!" Emily grumbled.

Samuel nodded ever so slowly. He clasped his hands in front of him and leaned his chin against them. He was one of Emily's closest confidants. Not only did he know about her adoption, but after her return from the Nether Realm her freshmen year he knew _everything_.

"In anger, we often say words we don't truly mean. I'm sure you both were very hurt by what the other said," Samuel commented.

Emily let out a loud sigh before taking a small glance at her watch.

"I have to go. I have my Senior paper to work on," Emily murmured.

Samuel let out a quiet sigh but nodded. He understood how tough the curriculum was when it got closer to graduation.

"Until next week?" he asked, standing at the same time as her.

She nodded and gave him a quick small hug before departing. She wished she could have stayed longer. She hadn't told him a lie. She really did need to finish up a paper for her Special Topic Senior Psychology class. It just wasn't due until the end of the month.

Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by her cell phone going off. Emily reached into her pocket and pulled out the small touchscreen phone. Looking at the caller id, she let out a small "oh" and answered it.

"Hello?"

"_Emily? Hey, it's Jay._"

"Hey, Jay! What's going on?"

"_I know you're off today, but could you come in? Stan flipped out on us and quit and Sara just got sick._"

Emily winced. They had all been waiting for the day Stan would finally lose it and apparently that day had finally come. Emily looked at her watch and quickly did some calculations in her head.

"Can you give me a half hour, Jay? I need to get home and change into my uniform," she asked.

She heard a loud sigh of relief on the other line.

"_Take all the time you need. So long as you're here before the dinner rush._"

Emily laughed and shook her head. "I'll be there, Jay."

"_Thanks, Emily._"

Emily hung up her phone and stuffed it back in her jeans pocket. She quickly snatched up her motorcycle helmet. She pulled it down onto her head and threw a leg over onto the bike before starting the engine. The blonde woman carefully backed out of her parking space and pulled out into traffic.

/…/

"You okay?"

Sage looked up. He stood in the middle of the family dojo sweeping the floor. Rowen was sitting on the floor in a corner of the room with an open book in front of him. Rowen had noticed in the days he had been back from visiting Emily that he had been abnormally quiet.

"I'm fine," Sage murmured before going back to his sweeping.

Rowen shook his head. He didn't believe that for a minute. When asked if he had enjoyed his trip, Sage had shrugged and said it was simply 'okay.' From beside him, Cooper lay watching Sage's every movement. Rowen had noticed the canine had kept his distance from the other warrior.

Deep down, Rowen suspected that something had happened between Sage and Emily. It obviously had affected Sage in some way. Rowen shrugged minutely before looking back down at his book.

When Sage is ready, he'll talk. For now it's best just to leave him alone, Rowen thought.

/…/

/Unknown location/

The relic was large and old yet it looked as though it had been crafted only yesterday. He looked out at the night sky.

"Soon. Soon it will be the right night, the right time."

A dark chuckle filled the air.

/…/

Emily slammed the door with a grunt. She stood leaning her back against the door while cursing under her breath. Tonight had been pure madness! She was currently dressed in a collared shirt that was tucked into the khaki pants she wore. Her shoes were black sneaker-like shoes designed for working in restaurants and a black half-apron was tied around her waist.

She pushed herself off the door with a huff. Emily walked over to the kitchen table and began digging into her apron. She pulled out her cash tips, her server's book and pen, three pens, a small bag of change, and two sheets of stickers. Emily constantly was given tables with children and she loved to reward them, with parent permission, with a sticker or two.

Emily untied her apron, pulled it away, folded it up, and laid it down on the table. She picked up her cash tips and walked away into the living room while counting it up. Emily never really paid attention to how much of a percentage her customers tipped her. Frankly, she didn't care. Unlike some of the other servers, she was just pleased to be tipped period.

Especially when my culture frowns upon tipping, Emily thought.

Had she been working in a Japanese restaurant or in any restaurant back home in Toyama, she would have had to refuse any tips that anyone dared to try and leave. That was just the way the culture was. She picked up the remote control and turned on the television before walking out of the room. The television was pre-set to automatically turn on to the local news channel.

"…_community. And in other news, this Saturday will be a special night. This Saturday a rare phenomenon will occur in the night sky. That's right. It's the blue moon_."

Emily walked back into the room in her pajama bottoms and a t-shirt and stopped short to listen to the news. She was surprised she had never heard of a blue moon before. She listened in fascination to the description before turning the television off.

She retreated into Tom's old room where all of her art stuff was. She stepped up to stand in front of a large painting. It was the one that had given her brother the spook.

The background was dark with clouds and lightning streaking across the sky. The familiar ghost-like appearance of the dark overlord formerly known as Talpa floated large in the center. Below him were nine balls of light that's colors represented each of the armors. At the very bottom stood the small figure of her godfather grasping the Staff of the Ancients.

Emily hadn't told her brother why she had painted this particular image. To be truthful, when she had first finished painting it, Emily hadn't been sure what had possessed her to paint it. She had been so confounded that she had gone into a meditation to talk with her godfather.

The Ancient One had offered as much advice as he could. He believed the painting represented her past history and memory of the legend that had become more than just a legend to her. It also allowed her some semblance of peace.

"That reminds me. I need to remember to pick the piece I want to give to the gallery," Emily mumbled to herself.

Emily glanced about the room with her gaze shifting from painting to painting. She had used a variety of mediums to create her art, but most of them were made of oil painting. She finally settled on a piece that was about the size of the Talpa one. This second painting was that of two lovebirds perched on a tree branch overlooking a sunrise.

Satisfied with her decision, Emily snatched up her sketchbook on her way out. She turned all the lights off as she disappeared into her bedroom. The eighteen year old sat up on top of her bedcovers with her opened sketchbook. She pulled the drawer out on her bedside table and reached in for a pencil.

Emily started free sketching. She just sketched without really thinking about it. After a while, she had finished a sketch of her interpretation of a dragon. Letting out a yawn, Emily reached over to place her things down on the bedside table. She turned off the lamp on the table before snuggling under the covers and burying her face into her pillow.

The Shadows were restless but quiet. They could sense something was amiss in the world yet they couldn't pinpoint the what or where. They gathered around the little half-Shadow protectively like an extra blanket.

_protect_

_care for half-child_

END OF CHAPTER TWO

**Hello, everyone! I need some reviews here. Where did all my readers (with the exception of Jrzgrl02) go?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Vampire Ronin:** Yeah! Look who's back on the scene. Oh, happy days! I'm glad you enjoyed the end of "Trouble Follows Little Sister" and that you're enjoying the third story in the series so far. Hope you enjoy the new chapter.

**Sooo…this tigress is finally going on her date tomorrow [Thursday] night and I am celebrating by posting a new chapter for my "Little Sister" series.**

CHAPTER THREE

"Come on, guys! Time's a-wasting!" Rowen shouted.

He stood downstairs with a duffle bag and sleeping bag waiting impatiently. Cye was sitting on the couch with his stuff on the ground at his feet.

"Relax, Rowen. You said this blue moon wouldn't be up until tomorrow morning, right?" Cye asked.

Rowen nodded.

"Yeah. Not until six forty-five. We're still going to enjoy camping out tonight, but not if we don't get going," Rowen replied, glancing up for his other friends.

A few minutes later, Ryo and Kento came trudging down the stairs with their bags. Sage had gone on ahead to their camping spot to clear it up and start a fire. It was already starting to get dark out.

"We're here, Ro. Let's go," Ryo said.

Cye and Rowen grabbed up their stuff and headed for the door. The guys had all been looking forward to this camping trip together.

"Bye, Mia!"

"Bye, guys! Have fun!"

/…/

Emily was sitting on her couch flipping through a book. It was the book that held knowledge of the Shadows power. She was waiting for Elizabeth Ann to call her when she got out of class. They were supposed to go get lunch together today.

She flipped the page then paused. This particular page had incited the voices of the Shadows. The spell work at the top talked about a protection shield.

_use spell_

_protect home_

_protect half-child_

Emily frowned. She hadn't thought she was in need of protection of any form. However, if the Shadows were going to be so adamant about it she might as well give it a try.

She stood up and walked into the art studio as the Shadows directed her to grab what she would need. She picked up a cup of white paint and a small paintbrush with a thick brush at the end. She murmured something over the paint that sounded like gibberish, but was actually words of a spell of the Shadows.

The spell caused the paint to turn into a glow-in-the-dark green. As if in a trance, Emily dipped her brush in the paint and lifted the brush up to the wall. She painted a small design in a rough image of a dragon. When she brought her hand and the brush down, the markings on her arms were glowing.

The design on the wall flashed once, twice, three times. Each time it flashed, the design multiplied with more lines shooting out from it. On the third flash, the glowing lines shot out across every wall inch of the apartment. Emily's eyes closed slowly before opening. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing a deep green. The paint and brush disappeared from her hands.

Emily stood in the center of the living room as the light on the walls glowed to a bright intensity that should have blinded her. In one large flash, everything went white. When it died away, Emily's cell phone went off. With her eyes now back to normal, Emily blinked a couple of times and shook her head before pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"Hello? Hey! Hi, Elizabeth Ann. The Taco Hut? Sure. Yeah, I'm sure. I'm not that picky. I'll meet you there in fifteen."

Emily hung up the phone and stuffed it back into her jeans pocket. Emily glanced around the room as she picked up the Shadow book from the coffee table.

"What was I doing?" Emily murmured to herself as she returned the book to her room.

The last thing she remembered was looking through the book. She shrugged.

I must have been daydreaming, Emily thought.

She snatched up the keys and helmet for her motorcycle on her way out the door. What she didn't see were the four ancient Shadows standing translucently in the living room. Felicity smiled sadly.

"It'll all happen soon. I wish we could tell her," Felicity murmured.

Turrell frowned at her. "It wouldn't do us any good."

The other two, Caemon and Maverick, nodded in agreement.

"We don't even know what _it_ is," Caemon added.

"We'll help as much as we can. The protection spell should keep her safe when she is most vulnerable," Maverick added.

In another flash of light, the four spirits disappeared.

/…/

"Emily, over here!"

Elizabeth Ann stood up as she flagged Emily down. Emily walked over to her with a big smile and greeted her with a hug before sitting down.

"It seems like forever since we've had a chance to catch up, watashi no yūjin [my friend]," Elizabeth Ann said, opening the menu in front of her.

Emily nodded in agreement before opening hers. The server came by and they put in their drink orders.

"Hmm. What looks good? Yo-sa-sōda nani [What looks good]?" Elizabeth Ann murmured, mostly to herself.

Emily smiled. Her best friend often lapsed into their native language without evening thinking about it. Emily, however, only spoke it when she meant to which wasn't often. The waitress reappeared with their drinks and took their orders. She flew away with the menus under her arm and a rushed expression on her face.

Elizabeth Ann smiled at Emily, but then her smile fell down into a frown. She pointed to her ear while looking at Emily.

"Where's your hearing aid?" Emily asked.

Back in freshmen year of college, after her return from the Nether Realm, Emily had gone to see her doctor. There had been damage to her head from the warlords dropping her (twice!) and one of them (that nasty Cale) striking her in the head several times. The damage had resulted in hearing loss in the one ear.

Luckily, the power of Halo had managed to stop the ringing and migraines. While the power could not recover the loss hearing, the mortal technology of hearing aids had been able to help her.

"I recently saw the Audiologist. My hearing has gotten a little worse and he wanted to replace the earmold. I'm picking it up after I leave here," Emily explained.

Elizabeth Ann accepted this with a nod. With a smile, she started talking a mile a minute.

"So when are your sisters coming into town? I can't wait to go dress shopping with you! Oh, and the bridesmaid dresses! Oh, there's so much to do!"

Emily held up her hands to slow her friend down. Elizabeth Ann blushed with an apology.

"Satsuki and Yayoi will be here next month. I have appointment for all of us to look at dresses."

There was a sentence she never thought she would use. The true blue tomboy had compromised with her boyfriend turned fiancé about wearing an actual dress. The two spent the rest of their time together chatting and eating.

/…/

They had stayed up partially through the night but all the ronins were fast asleep now. They would be waking up in just a few hours to see the blue moon. Unknown to them, everything would soon be changing.

In another location, a shadowy figure stood over a large antique artifact.

"There it is. The part that will change everything. With the rising of the blue moon, the two realms will be connected."

/…/

**Author's Note: I thought of leaving it there, but that wouldn't be good form.**

/…/

It was close to six o'clock and Emily was finally home at resting. She rolled her hair behind her right ear and carefully pulled her hearing aid out. She opened the battery door, took the battery out, and placed the two parts on the bathroom counter.

Emily returned to the kitchen to snatch her popcorn from the microwave. She turned the lights out and then she crossed the apartment to the couch where she plopped down. The apartment was completely dark with the blinds closed and her bedroom door closed.

Emily snatched up the controller to the blue-ray DVD player and pressed play. Normally, if another person had been watching the movie with her, Emily would have kept her hearing aid in. However, she did not care to keep it in when she could blast the volume as loud as she wanted. Well, as reasonably loud as she could without having the apartment neighbors coming banging on the door.

She was all excited. She had just bought the newly released movie titled Now You See Me. She had seen it in theater a few months ago when Tom had been visiting. The movie was awesome! It seemed like every second you thought you knew what was going on (and whodunit) everything shifted!

At the same time, on the opposite side of the world, the five ronins were up and watching the blue moon rising in the sky. They all agreed that Rowen had been right to drag them out there. While their friends were watching it and talking, Sage pulled Rowen gently aside.

"Sage?" Rowen asked.

Sage let out a deep sigh before speaking.

"Emily told me about where you're getting married. I…became frustrated and I said some things I'm not proud of," Sage confessed.

Rowen listened quietly and nodded his head at certain points.

"Did you really decide to marry there?" Sage asked quietly.

Rowen nodded. "It was my suggestion, Sage. Being there brings her a sense of serenity. It's something none of us could really give her. It's where she found out who she really is."

Sage hadn't thought about that. It had been a few years now since Emily had found out about her true self.

"I'm going to give her a call tonight. I want…_need_ to apologize to her," Sage said.

Sage was surprised when Rowen didn't comment. He had turned his head away when speaking to him, but now returned his gaze back to the archer. Rowen's confused gaze was focused on the sky over his [Sage's] shoulder.

Slowly, as if his body were moving in slow motion, Sage turned around. His heart leaped up into his throat as his eyes took in the sight that had his best friend frozen. The moon was now a deep blood red color.

"What's happening?" Sage murmured.

Rowen shook his head.

"I dunno. But I don't like it."

Suddenly, all five ronins collapsed to their knees. They felt as if the breath had been knocked out of them and all their energy had been sapped from them all in one go. The other three ronins fell unconscious while Rowen and Sage struggled to get up. Rowen felt a shock shoot up his spine. His eyes rolled back and he fell unconscious.

Sage rolled onto his back and arched his back as he felt shocks lace up his own spine. It wasn't painful yet his body reacted as though it had been. His last thoughts before succumbing to darkness were of his sister.

Back in the United States, an exhausted Emily lay sleeping on the couch with a spilled bowl of popcorn littering the carpeted floor. She was unaware of what was happening outside of her apartment or that the markings on the walls were glowing.

END OF CHAPTER THREE

**Don't forget to comment in the box below and hit Submit. Thank you! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Vampire Ronin:** Thank you, thank you! Well, there are two chapters up. It's just that there's one on this story and one on "Dead Man's Hand." Hehehe You know what? I never thought of girls for the other ronins? Hmm…gives me something to think about.

**Enjoy the new chapter! **

CHAPTER FOUR

Sunday morning came quietly to the apartment. Emily slowly woke up to a dimly lit apartment since the blinds had still been shut from last night. She sat up while rubbing the sleep out of her face. Looking at her watch, Emily noticed the time was 8:32AM.

She bent over to gather up the fallen popcorn and stood up to dump it in the trashcan. She thought about what she was going to do today as she walked into the bathroom. No work or classes today and Samuel was guest lecturing in the next county all day.

As she washed her face, Emily decided to call her brother today. She had given him enough time to cool down about the whole wedding thing. Emily picked up a washcloth and dried off her face.

The blonde reached over to place a battery into her hearing aid and closed the battery door shut. After a couple of seconds, the hearing aid emitted a tiny beep then started making a sort of crackling sound. She cupped her hands around it, causing it let out a loud squeal. With that done, she swept her hair back from her ear and carefully maneuvered the earmold into her ear. Once she had it securely in her ear, she moved the hearing aid behind her pinna (outer ear).

Just as a practice exercise, Emily snapped her fingers by her unaided ear then by her aided ear. She swapped between the ears a couple of times before lowering her hands.

"We're all good," she murmured.

Emily was surprised to hear silence from the Shadows. Over the last few years, she had come to hear their voices quietly as if a whisper and at a constant rate. It had taken a lot of practice to not jump or react when they spoke. So it unnerved her just a smidge that they were completely silent.

Emily flipped her shoulder-length hair back over her ear, hiding the hearing aid from view. Ever since getting her hearing aid, Tom had drawn her into the Deaf community even more. In the four years at Pineview, Emily had become quite fluent in sign language and had a few Deaf friends now.

Picking her phone up, Emily knew it was late in Japan (around 10 o'clock at night), but she knew her brother would still be up. She thumbed through her contacts before pressing on the contact that had a picture of her brother. She waited and listened as the phone rang.

Emily was surprised at what she heard.

"…been disconnected."

Emily frowned. Her brother's number had been disconnected? Hmm. Perhaps Kento "accidentally" broke it again.

He probably got a new one and changed the number. I'll call mom and ask her for it, Emily thought.

Emily pressed End Call and brought up the number for her family's house. She jerked back in mild shock when the number wouldn't go through. She tried both her sisters' cell phones, Yayoi's house phone, Yayoi's husband's work and cell phone, and the dojo's phone.

"This is getting weird," Emily murmured.

She tried not to panic as she tried Mia's house and each of the ronins' cell phones. No answer anywhere. Emily decided to try one more phone number before panicking. Emily called up the police station and was immediately connected to her father's boss.

"_Konnichiwa. Watashi wa dono yō ni anata o tasukeru koto ga dekiru?_ [Hello. How can I help you?]" the rough voice asked cheerfully over the phone.

"I'm trying to reach my father," Emily replied, knowing the man could understand her.

"_What's his name, dear?_" the officer asked.

Emily rattled off her adoptive father's name and waited. There was silence that stretched on for a few seconds. Emily grew worried and looked at the phone to make sure the call hadn't been dropped. Nope. Still connected.

"_You are mistaken, 'mam. There is __**no**__ officer here by that name_," the voice answered, all cheerfulness now gone from its tone.

Emily's heart leapt up into her throat. What?!

"No. No, sir. You know him!"

"_Gomen'nasai. Nai. Yoiichinichiwo sugosu_ [I am sorry. No. Have a good day]."_ Click_.

Commence the start-up of full panic mode in 5…4…

"Cooper!" Nothing.

3…2…1…PANIC! Emily quickly grabbed up her backpack and stuffed a bunch of essentials into it. She threw in her passport as she called the airport and booked an immediate flight bound for Tokyo. Normally, she would have just shifted using the power of the Shadows, but doing so from such a far distance always wore her out. The blonde had a feeling she needed to "go through proper 'channels'" to get home.

The flight would be leaving in an hour. Emily knew she'd be able to make it if she shifted through the Shadows to the airport. She made sure everything was locked up and grabbed extra batteries for her hearing aid before shifting to the airport.

It took no time at all to shift to a safe place without being seen and get through the security check. As Emily waited for her flight to start boarding, she rang up the restaurant on her phone and asked for the manager.

"_Hello. This is the manager, Jay speaking. How can I help you?_"

"Jay? It's Emily. Listen, I need you to take me off the schedule for a few days."

"_Emily? Is everything okay? You've never taken a day off before._"

It was true. In all her time of working at the restaurant, she had never missed a day she was scheduled for.

"I think something's happened. I need to go see my family."

Emily glanced around the busy airport as she waited for a response.

"…_family? Oh. If you're sure then._"

Emily nodded, even though he couldn't see.

"Yes. I'm positive."

"_Okay. You take all the time you need, then. You just let me know when you're back._"

Emily thanked her General Manager and wished him a good day before hanging up the phone. The blonde woman plopped down into a chair. She interlocked her gloved fingers in front of her as she leaned her elbows on her knees and pressed her lips against her thumbs.

Something wasn't right. She could feel it in her bones. It was too much of a coincidence that _everyone's_ number wasn't working. Her gaze fell on her ring. She could see the stardust swirling within the ring as if reacting like a mood ring.

Emily breathed in and let out an enormous sigh. There had to be an explanation for all of this. However, Emily was already so far gone into her panic mode that she didn't even think about trying her mental sibling link with Sage.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, the flight number was called and passengers began boarding. Time seemed to speed up as Emily boarded the plane, sat in her window seat, and buckled up. The flight attendants went over the usual procedures for in case of emergencies and explained acceptable behavior on the flight. Everything went by in a blur after that.

/…/

/Unknown location/

"It worked."

Dark laughter filled the air as lightning streaked across the blackened sky. An image of the Mortal Realm was glowing in front of the shadowy figure.

"None of them know what has happened. What I have managed to do. _It's perfect._"

/…/

Emily was grateful there was no one sitting in the two seats beside her. It allowed her to place her backpack on the middle seat beside her.

For the first few hours of the flight, she had "slept." To any onlookers, it would have appeared as if she was sleeping and in a way she had. Emily had entered a physical state of sleep that allowed her body to rest while her mental "body" roamed free. In other words, she had astral projected.

She had astral projected herself back to her apartment. She had done several things that needed to be done, including calling one of her friends from the gallery to pick up her lovebird painting for the show.

Now Emily was sitting staring out the window while twitching her hand nervously. She tried to think about what could have happened to have all the phone numbers disconnected. Not even a nationwide black-out could have done such a thing. At least not with the cell phones.

And what was up with dad's boss? He couldn't have been pulling a prank on me. Sure, he has a great sense of humor, but there was something in his voice that didn't sound right, Emily thought.

"Excuse me?"

Emily looked up to see a flight attendant smiling at her.

"Can I get you anything?" the lady asked politely.

"Can I have a coke, please?" Emily asked.

The flight attendant nodded.

"Of course. Would you like some ice with it?"

Emily shook her head.

"No, thank you. You can just bring me the can."

The flight attendant nodded again before standing up straight and disappearing down the aisle.

_take great care_

_danger_

Emily didn't so much as twitch as the Shadows spoke at the same time the flight attendant returned with her drink. Emily thanked her for the can before popping it open and taking a sip. Putting her can down in the cup holder, Emily dug into her backpack for her Nintendo 3DS and headphones.

Knowing there was nothing else she could do right now, Emily did her best to distract her mind by playing her game system. She popped in one of her Mario games and started playing. She went flying through the levels from the last level she had been on. She paused every few minutes to take another sip of her drink until the can was completely empty.

Finally, after about two hours of jumping on the backs of turtles and shooting fireballs at plants, the battery on the 3DS died. Emily closed it up and placed it back in her backpack. As she plugged the headphones into her phone, Emily looked at the time on her watch. The time read as 5:45PM.

The flight had left at 11:00 USA time (Midnight, Japan). Almost seven hours had passed on her flight. She still had another seven hours to go. If she had done the calculations right, that would put her in Tokyo at 1:00AM USA on Monday (2:00PM Japan on the same day).

The next few hours consisted of her listening to music, having a small dinner, and using the restroom. She settled down in her seat and allowed herself to go to sleep. Like with her headphones before, Emily took her hearing aid out and stored it away safely in her backpack.

The next thing she knew the flight attendant was gently shaking her arm and telling her they would be landing soon. Emily swore colorfully using sign language as she sat up and buckled her seat belt. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes while reaching into her backpack. She pulled out a small oval-shaped case.

She popped it open to reveal her hearing aid with its battery out. She placed the battery back inside and closed the door shut with a small, barely audible click. It took a few seconds before the hearing aid was ready. Emily placed it in her ear and pressed on the earmold to make sure it was all the way in place. Then she pulled the aid back around behind her ear.

With that done, she flipped her hair down and gathered her backpack into her lap.

/…/

Emily plopped down into the backseat of the taxi. Unfortunately, there had been no cars available for rental.

"Do you speak English?" the driver asked in broken up English.

"Watashi wa eigo to nihongo o hanasu [I speak English and Japanese]," Emily replied automatically.

The driver sagged in relief and answered back in Japanese to ask her where she wanted to go.

"I need a ride to Toyama," Emily said point blank.

The driver stared at her as his eyes grew wide. His mouth opened then closed. He looked a bit like a fish when doing this.

"I…I will n-not. Only N-Na-Namerikawa," he stuttered.

Now she was officially confused. Namerikawa was close to an hour away from Toyama. Why wouldn't the man take her straight to Toyama?

"Watashi wa kagiri iku koto ga dekimasu nomi Namerikawa [I will only take you as far as Namerikawa]," the driver said, his words a little stronger in his native language.

With that said, the driver turned in his seat and pulled out into traffic. Emily buckled her seatbelt and leaned back in her seat quietly. Okay. Something was seriously not adding up here. First, all of her phone contacts to Japan were disconnected. Now her taxi driver refused to drive her straight to Toyama.

Wait a minute! Back up there. I took the flight into Tokyo because it was the only one leaving at the time. I don't remember seeing any flights to the Toyama Airport, Emily thought to herself.

A million and one scenarios started sifting through her mind. Why were the phones disconnected? Why had the police chief denied knowing her father? All of the questions seemed to stem around one thing. Toyama.

For the entire trip across the country, the taxi was silent. Neither Emily nor the driver spoke and that suited both just fine. It was a few minutes after six when the taxi pulled up to a curb on the edge of Namerikawa. Emily paid the fare and climbed out. With a nod to her, the taxi driver pealed out of there like a bat out of Hell.

Emily swung the arm of her triangular backpack over her head so it could rest across her abdomen. She started walking down the street in the direction of Toyama. As she walked down the road, she noticed a lot of places were closed early. This seemed odd to her but not enough to slow her down.

Once she reached the end of town, Emily shot off like a rocket. She used her ronin speed to move quickly down the side of the road. She planned to slow down if any cars came up upon her, but she didn't encounter any. Emily didn't pick up on this as her mind was focused solely on reaching Toyama and figuring out what the Hell was going on.

Finally, she slowed down to a jog then a walk as she came upon the edge of Toyama. She was shocked to see police tape everywhere and signs up warning residents to stay away from the city and surrounding areas. Emily jumped easily over the tape and walked into the city.

A shock jolted through her as she looked all around her. The city was in shambles. Buildings were torn into pieces, windows were shattered, and the place was completely deserted.

"What happened here?" she murmured.

Stopping in the middle of the road, Emily closed her eyes and focused. She used Halo's power to reach out to detect any movement. There was nothing in the immediate area so she extended the power. She was pleasantly surprised when she felt an invisible sound wave come back to her. It indicated there was a moving body to the south.

Not caring this time, Emily shifted through the Shadows. She landed in the center of the University campus. Or what was left of it. She carefully stepped around large, broken pieces of the building. She focused Halo's power to direct her to where the moving body was.

The blonde woman walked around the abandoned library to the front. She stopped at the corner. The moving body was around the corner somewhere from where she was standing. Pushing her body against the wall, Emily carefully snuck her head around the corner.

Her face lit up and her body sagged in relief when she saw the familiar figure of her brother. Sage stood out in the street in his subarmor. He was standing there looking around for something.

He didn't seem fazed by the fact that their hometown was in ruins. She didn't care, though. She was just glad to see he was okay.

Emily started to turn around the corner and shout for her brother, but someone beat her to it.

"Sage!"

Her eyes darted to where the voice had come from. Her eyes landed on another familiar figure as they appeared at her brother's side. But, this figure brought no joy to her. In fact, this person made her voice freeze in her throat and forced her to press her body back against the building in order to hide herself.

She brought a hand up to her mouth to hide her gasp. What did _this_ mean?

END OF CHAPTER FOUR

**YEAH! NEW chapter up. Time to get the reviews in and build inspiration to see where this story will go next. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Vampire Ronin: ** Hehehe Wouldn't you like to know what's going to happen next? Thank you, thank you! Glad you enjoyed the latest chapter. This story should explain a little more, but not quite enough. It's to keep you snagged in. So keep on reading!

**jrzgrl02: **Those are all good questions. Some of which will be answered soon. I'm so happy you've caught up with the stories I always try to keep up with keeping everyone on the edge of their seats. It's how I get and keep you in the seats in the first place! Lol

CHAPTER FIVE

Oh my…! This was a nightmare. She was still asleep on the couch and this was surely a nightmare. Emily reached up to pinch herself on the shoulder. _Ouch_.

Emily mouthed a curse. Okay, it _wasn't_ a nightmare. At least not by normal proportions. This had to be a dynasty _curse_! That was the only explanation for that…that…_swamp rat_ to be anywhere near her brother.

This is not happening, Emily thought. _This is __**not**__ happening_.

The blonde carefully snuck her head back around the corner to look at what she now considered her own personal vision of Hell. She still couldn't believe what she was seeing. Standing right next to her brother was the Dark Warlord of Corruption. Cale was donned in his own subarmor and had a friendly smile on his face. He was talking with Sage and Sage was listening!

Emily had to remember to breathe and forced herself to count to ten to keep from giving herself away. However, she only made it to seven when two more figures appeared. It was Sekhmet and Anubis.

This nightmare just keeps getting worse, Emily thought as she watched the four interact.

They acted as though they had been friends for years. Sage was chuckling at something Cale had said. Emily wanted nothing more than to dart out from her hiding place and drag her brother away from the country. However, she felt that probably wasn't the best course of action.

Emily gnawed her teeth. She was so focused on the warriors she didn't sense the approaching figure from behind. Or hear the Shadows trying to warn her. Instead she tried to overhear what they were saying.

"…around."

Sage shook his head in response to whatever Anubis had said.

"All…dead…brother…gate…" Sage's words cut in and out as Emily struggled to hear him.

Who was dead? Brother? What brother?! Sage only had three sisters! Gate, as in dynasty gate? None of this made any sense.

_danger_

_flee_

_soon learn more _

Emily was reluctant to follow the words of the Shadow Ancestors but she knew they were right. She knew where her brother was and he appeared to be fine (despite the company he was keeping). Until she figured out what the Hell was going on it might be good to maintain a safe distance.

Especially with _them_ back. I don't know how they did it, but I will find out, Emily vowed silently.

Emily pulled the Shadows around her and shifted away. She reappeared in the Shadows where the windows to everything were. Feeling safe about her isolation, Emily finally threw her head back and let out an angry scream. After that, she spat out so many curses that she would have put sailors to shame.

"What the…Hell?! How the…did they…come back? Holy…!"

_calm half-Shadow_

_calm_

Emily's frustration won out against logic with the Shadows. She spat out a few more colorful words before letting out a huge exasperated sigh. She glanced around at the window images but froze when her eyes fell on one in particular.

"Oh, you got to be kidding me! All _**nine**_ of 'em?!"

Sure enough, all nine warriors were now standing on the broken grounds of the University. They all appeared to be chummy with each other. Something she thought she would never see. Not even in her actual nightmares!

"What _**else**_ could happen?" Emily murmured.

_Grr_. Emily froze. The low growl from behind her was her first clue she wasn't as alone as she had thought. The second clue was the Shadows warning her.

Why the Hell didn't they tell me sooner, Emily snarled to herself.

Slowly, Emily turned around to face whatever she had accidentally shifted with her through the Shadows. A familiar black and white feline stood tall and growling at her. Emily raised her hands up in a show of surrender.

"H-h-hey, White Blaze. Good boy. _Good boy_," Emily said, trying to keep her voice steady.

White Blaze cocked his head slightly to the side while growling. How did this mortal know him? The tiger stepped closer, coming into Emily's personal space. Suddenly, he caught a whiff of her scent and froze.

Emily watched as the Siberian Tiger lowered his head to sniff at her leg. Somewhere between hearing the growl and holding her hands up, Emily realized that White Blaze didn't recognize her.

He better be the only one, Emily thought.

Without warning, she was broken out of her thoughts by a furry, cold nose jamming into her clothed stomach. Emily's hands came down on top of White Blaze's head as she bent over and giggled. Despite the danger of the large feline sinking his teeth into said stomach, Emily couldn't help giggling.

White Blaze took in a large whiff of air as if trying to suck the shirt right off her body. Then White Blaze stepped back and sat back on his haunches with a grin. Obviously he liked whatever he had sniffed.

"You don't recognize me, do you, Blaze?" Emily asked.

The tiger shook his head in the negative. Emily groaned which confused White Blaze.

"That just adds more to this big lumpy bowl of confusion."

The tiger let out a small growl of agreement. Emily shot him a lopsided grin.

"I'm Emily, White Blaze. I'm Sage's little sister," Emily explained.

The tiger gave her a look that told her he didn't believe her for one second. Emily reached back around into her backpack and pulled out a small book of pictures. She made sure to move slowly and deliberately so she didn't spook the tiger. She walked over to him and sat down with her legs crossed. White Blaze looked over her shoulder, his head lightly resting on it, as she opened the book.

The first picture was of her and Sage. It was obvious by their body language that there was nothing romantic between them. The next picture was of Emily with Sage and Rowen on either side of her. The third picture was of Emily and Rowen. Unlike Emily and her brother, this picture showed obvious love between the two. Rowen was standing behind Emily with his arms draped over her shoulders and arms crossed in front of her. His head was tilted and resting against the top of hers.

White Blaze purred while looking at the picture. This was news to him.

"Rowen and I are engaged, Blaze," Emily said, pulling her glove back slightly to show him her ring.

White Blaze's eyes grew wide and, had he been human, he probably would have dropped his mouth open. He wanted to see more. Emily, however, had paused on the photo and was staring off into space while running her finger over the photograph. White Blaze dropped his head from Emily's shoulder and nudged her. She was pushed slightly forward and a smile appeared on her face.

"Okay, okay," Emily told the tiger.

She flipped through several photographs varying of the five [ronin] warriors, herself, and even one or two with White Blaze. The Siberian tiger focused on the photograph of Emily giving him a bath. There was soap suds all over both of them, but big grins were on their faces.

The tiger turned his head to lick Emily's cheek. Emily chuckled at the funny, rough feeling of the sandpaper tongue. When she was done flipping through the pictures, Emily felt White Blaze nudge her four times with his head.

"You're asking about the other four?" Emily asked, softly.

White Blaze bobbed his head up and down. Emily shook her head.

"I only have a few photos of the four together. None of my photos have…_all of them together_," Emily said, cringing at her last words.

It left a very bad taste in her mouth. The only way she should have any photos of them is of them battling against each other.

"Something's not right, Blaze. And I'm going to figure out what it is. But first," Emily said, standing. "I need to send you back."

She was surprised when White Blaze refused to go.

"You want to stay…with me?" asked the very confused blonde.

White Blaze nodded. Emily knew that this would bring her great joy, but that it wouldn't exactly be safe to have a large Siberian tiger traveling with her. However, as she gazed at the image of the nine warriors as they moved on from the University, she recalled her recent experiment with Sage.

Emily pulled a blue bandana out of her backpack. She closed her eyes and focused on an image. White Blaze watched as the kanji symbol for Spirit glowed a deep purple-pink on her forehead. Did she possess an armor like the warlords? The cloth in her hand glowed for a few seconds before both stopped glowing.

Emily reopened her eyes and held up the bandana.

"Can I put this around your neck?" Emily asked.

Wary, White Blaze slowly nodded. Emily stepped forward and tied the large bandana around the tiger's neck. She stepped back and watched as changes overcome him. When the change stopped, Emily was staring at a perfect illusionary image of Cooper.

END OF CHAPTER FIVE

…**so? What do we think? Is Tigergirl still an evil, little authoress that leaves you on the edge of your seats? Just wait until the NEXT chapter! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Vampire Ronin: **Oooh, I knew I should have looked a second time! Oh well. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger. He he he How do you know that isn't my plan? *wink*

**Okay, readers and reviewers (or jrzgrl02 and Vampire Ronin), it is my intent to post new chapters for all three stories before this coming weekend. So here's the start. Enjoy! **

CHAPTER SIX

From shifting through the Shadows to returning to Namerikawa, Emily had explained what her life was like to White Blaze. One of three sisters to Sage; growing up in Toyama; the ronins and warlords; finding out about everything; Talpa's defeat.

Sadly, White Blaze couldn't talk and answer the questions Emily had. She found a hotel on the opposite end of town that let her stay in the room for a few nights with White Blaze, now disguised as Cooper, in tow.

"You speak the language quite fluently, child. Where did you learn it?" asked the owner, an elderly woman, as she escorted the two to the room.

"My family taught me. I grew up here in Japan," Emily explained as they stopped in front of a door.

The elderly woman stopped and turned to face her.

"Does your family live near her?" the woman asked.

Emily nodded. "Yes."

"Dokodesu ka? [Where?]"

"Toyama."

The answer had just been automatic. She hadn't even meant to say it. She had meant to list off another city nearby. The owner gasped as a hand came up to cover her open mouth. Emily barely heard her as she murmured a prayer in Japanese.

"I'll make sure no one disturbs you," she murmured, before moving past Emily and White Blaze.

Emily strained to listen to the woman's mumblings as she disappeared down the stairs.

"Denakereba narimasen… Yuiitsu no seizon-sha [Must be…only survivor]."

Emily openly frowned as she took out the key she had been given. She unlocked the door and let White Blaze enter first. White Blaze leaped up onto the queen sized bed and laid down. Emily dropped her backpack on the ground by the bathroom door while locking the door behind her.

She immediately moved to the computer set up in the room. She was going to find out what had happened to Toyama. She brought up the search engine, typed in Toyama, and hit the Search button. Normally, her results would have consisted of a Wikipedia page, a Toyama restaurant (in Arizaona), and an official site full of tourism information.

However, what came up was confusing. The first link mentioned something about an anniversary. She moved the mouse across the screen and clicked on the link. The news article was written by a newspaper in Tokyo. It was very vague, almost as if the writer hadn't wanted to say too much. It talked about honoring the dead and the lowering of flags for the entire week. The article was dated yesterday.

Emily hit the backspace and scrolled down through the links before clicking one.

The first image was an almost exact replica of the city now. She scrolled down and started reading. It talked about a tragic moment in Japanese history. Emily read in horror as a disaster worse than a natural disaster had overcome the city. No one knew exactly what had happened. There were speculations about a deadly virus or a nuclear attack.

The number of deaths was staggering. Most of the people hadn't survived the "attack." Those few that had nearly survived had been in intensive care units and hadn't lived for longer than a week. Before dying, several of the near survivors had mumbled things like "castle in the sky" and "bright colors."

A cold feeling wracked through Emily's body. She was beginning to understand. She scrolled down. There were more pictures, one more gruesome to the next. Finally, the cursor stopped on an image that made the nausea strike without warning.

White Blaze picked his head up when Emily bolted out of her chair with her hand covering her mouth. She disappeared into the bathroom. The tiger tilted his head to the side as he heard something slam open and then heard Emily issue a horrible sound. It sounded like the sound one of the warlords made the morning after a long night of drinking.

He listened until all went quiet. A moment later, he heard the toilet flush and the running of water from the sink. When Emily stepped outside the bathroom, she looked like a wreck. Her skin was pale, her arms were shaking, and her hair stuck out everywhere. Emily crossed the room to the computer which she promptly closed the window out and turned off the computer.

Then she stumbled over to the bed where she allowed herself to fall down onto it. Without considering the possible consequences, Emily reached out to grasp his fur. White Blaze jolted a little as Emily pressed her face into his side. Normally, he would have greatly objected to this and reared his head around to bite the mortal. Yet something stopped him from doing just that.

"Oh, Blaze. My family's dojo…" Emily choked back a sob. "_It's completely destroyed._"

Even reading about no survivors had not prepared Emily for the shock of realizing that her family couldn't have possibly survived. Emily didn't understand any of this. When she had fallen asleep, the world had been _normal_! The _four_ warlords were forever banished to the Nether Realm, the dynasty gates were sealed, and her family was very much alive!

White Blaze's long tail reached out and curled around Emily's waist. Despite the damp feeling on his fur, White Blaze allowed the little mortal to cry on him. He almost felt as though the blonde woman's pain was his pain.

_rest half-Shadow_

_later question_

_tomorrow anew_

Emily closed her eyes and allowed the Shadows to lull her to sleep. White Blaze shifted so that the blonde could curl up into him and he could lay his head down on top of hers. He needed to see what came of this new alliance.

/…/

Ryo walked into the room frowning. Cale, Sage, and Kento were sitting at a table playing poker. Dais was leaning back against the wall behind Sage and Cale with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Any of you seen White Blaze?" Ryo asked.

"Nope," Cale said, without looking up as he threw a chip out.

"No," Sage answered, before doing the same.

Dais remained quiet with his attention on the others. Kento was the only one of the four to look up after throwing in his chips in and revealing his cards. The normally stoic Sage threw his cards down in disgust while mumbling a curse. Cale gave Kento a dark look before calmly laying his cards down.

"I'm sure he's around here somewhere," Kento suggested.

Sage gathered up the cards and began expertly shuffling them while Kento pulled his new prize in. Ryo shrugged.

"I guess so. It's not like him to disappear like that, though," Ryo replied.

Sage dealt out the cards and threw in the starting bid. Kento and Cale both added to it after lifting up their cards.

"When'd ya last see him?" Kento asked.

"When we were in town. Down by the old University. I think he smelled something and went to check it out," Ryo answered.

Cale raised the bid and Sage checked him. As did Kento.

"Probably found a deer and is sleeping it off," Sage added.

Ryo chuckled as Kento won the hand again. This time, it was his turn to shuffle the deck and deal. Ryo shook his head as he turned around and walking out of the room, but not before calling over his shoulder.

"You two do realize Dais is helping Kento…right?"

Ryo didn't have to look over his shoulder to know the two warlords had turned around and were giving Dais dirty looks.

"What the Hell, Dais?!"

"It was pity!"

"Hey!"

"Oh, come on! We all know you _suck _at this game!"

"I do not!"

"Yes, you do!" yelled a chorus of voices.

Ryo threw his head back and laughed as he disappeared down the hall.

END OF CHAPTER SIX

**So what do you think? **


	7. Chapter 7, Part I

**Vampire Ronin:** OOPS. Wow! Airzaona? That is like the biggest typo I have ever done. And my tenses conflicting together? Wonderful. I can't tell you how many times I corrected that on peer editing. Oh, you'll read below what's going on now. I put it into two parts because The Explanation was going to be very long so I broke it into two parts.

**Enjoy, my lovely readers and reviewers!**

CHAPTER SEVEN

PART I

_May their souls rest in Peace as they walk with the Savior._

It had taken a while to find them. Even as Emily stood there in the middle of the cemetery with the evidence staring her right in the face, she couldn't do it. She couldn't allow herself to become emotional. At least not until she understood what was happening with everything.

Out of respect to the blonde, White Blaze sat under a cherry blossom tree a fair distance away.

Emily shook her head quietly. She wore her hood up with an illusion over her face to mask it with second-degree burns. She was disguised to prevent being spotted and recognized later.

It had taken her traveling over to the next city to find the cemetery where her family was buried. Or, at least, most of them. Emily was surprised to find that the family marked tombstone only named her grandfather, parents, and Yayoi.

"What about you, Satsuki?" Emily murmured, sadly.

She felt like her life was equivalent to Swiss cheese. There were just too many holes and not enough information to fill in those holes.

"I'm going to find out what happened and then I'm going to fix it," she vowed.

She felt as though her family was with her and heard every word. Emily knelt down to pull up some weeds around the tombstone. She leaned over to place a soft kiss to the cold granite.

_peace_

_family in spirit_

Emily sighed in relief. The Shadows seemed to be telling her that her family was with her in spirit. They, the Shadows, were trying to put her at ease. It was only partially helping her state of mind.

Emily stood up and murmured a final comment to her 'deceased' family. Then she turned around to face the illusioned White Blaze.

"Come on, Blaze!"

/…/

No longer under the Cooper disguise, White Blaze lay under the window in Emily's bedroom. He dozed as the light streamed in through the blinds. Emily stood in the living room. When she had shifted them through the Shadows from Japan to her apartment in the States, Emily had immediately looked through her apartment. There were no changes in the apartment that correlated with the changes outside the apartment.

She had even found her photo book full of photographs of her family, the ronins, and the few ones of the warlords. Emily knew who could help her unravel this great big ball of confusion. She only hoped she would be able to reach him.

Emily closed the blinds and lit a bunch of candles around the apartment. White Blaze glanced up from her bedroom but remained where he was. The young blonde stood in the center of her living room and bowed her head with her eyes closed.

"Godfather…_I need you_."

Suddenly, an invisible wind swept forward, throwing her hair back and away from her face. It blew out all the candles in one fell swoop. A moment later, the candles relit; they glowed a bright blue instead of their usual golden yellow. Standing a few feet from her and wearing clothes she had seen in many a meditation was the Ancient One.

Emily felt an overwhelming wave of emotion. She was overjoyed to see her Godfather. In the blink of an eye, she had crossed the room and thrown her arms around him in a tight embrace.

/…/

Things were suddenly very confusing. He had been meditating when he had heard the summons. He could not recall anyone ever summoning him before. Sure, people had called upon him but none had had the knowledge of how to summon him. So naturally he had chosen to answer the summons to find out who had summoned him.

Now he stood in the middle of a living room with a young adult female with her arms wrapped securely around him. The child hadn't seemed surprised to see him. Actually, she seemed _relieved_ to see him. Surprisingly, the Ancient One could sense there was something different about the girl.

Slowly, he brought his arms up to gently hold her. One arm wound around her shoulders while the other came up so he could pat her gently on the head. Her face was buried in his chest and he could sense that she could be holding back a sob.

He looked down at her surprised. He could sense a powerful amount of energy from within the girl. It was eerily similar to that of Talpa's power. And something else that he couldn't decipher. It was scary how much that unnerved him.

The Ancient One reached out using the power of the Staff to sense the presence of others. He sensed only a few mortals in the building and some large animal in the next room.

I suppose I will have to wait for the child to calm and talk to me. I have many questions for her, he thought.

/…/

Emily took in a staggering breath as she breathed in a faint scent of peaches. She had known as soon as she had seen the man that he was no spirit; somehow, _someway_, her godfather was alive. She had hugged her Godfather before, but this time was different. She felt secure in his arms, even if his grip was loose. She felt a warm hand pat her gently on the head.

He doesn't know who I am, Emily thought sadly.

Emily took in a deep breath and released it as she inched out of her godfather's arms. The Ancient One's arms came down as Emily put a little distance between them. Her bright blue eyes locked on with his.

"You don't know who I am, do you?" Emily asked.

The Ancient One shook his head.

"I'm sorry, child, but I've never seen you before," the Ancient One apologized.

Emily sucked in a big breath while wincing.

"Then things are about to get a Hell of a lot more confusing for _you_," Emily said.

The Ancient One frowned. "I'm sorry?"

Emily smiled. She shook her head while her gaze fell downward. Then she lifted her head before speaking.

"My name is Emily Annalise Wolfe. My father is Andrew Wolfe. He named you my Godfather."

She could tell her words had surprised him by the way his eyebrows had risen and his eyes had widened marginally.

"Oh my," he murmured.

Now that he thought about it. The child did bare a strong resemblance to his old childhood friend. Yet he knew that couldn't be right.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to explain a few things…Emily. Such as how you came to know all this," the Ancient One said.

Emily sighed.

"Okay, but you're going to want to sit down. It's sort of a long story," Emily replied.

The two of them sat down on the couch together with a little bit of space between them. Emily proceeded to explain _everything_; growing up with her "family," discovering the secret of the armors, being kidnapped by the four warlords, etc. Emily made sure to cover everything that had happened especially after Ryo protected her and destroyed Talpa using the Inferno. She even showed him the very necklace he had given her and her photograph book.

When she was done, Emily grew quiet and waited. The Ancient One had sat their patiently and quietly the entire time. She knew it was a lot to take in; she would give him all the time in the world. He closed his eyes for a few moments before slowing opening them. His gaze fell on Emily who stared back nervously.

"Let me see if I have all of this right. You are Andrew's daughter. He died from serious injuries and, as my Goddaughter; you were left in my care. I came into the Mortal Realm and found you the perfect home with the family of the future bearer of the Halo armor. You grew up with them, not knowing of the secrets of the armors."

Emily nodded as she stayed quiet.

"Time went by. You later learned of the secret and stayed close by. Later, after Talpa's _four_ warlords took you captive, you discovered the ronin armors had rubbed off on you. The ronins came to your rescue and destroyed Talpa. A few years later, the warlords returned. They spent a lot of time looking for you and, once they did, dragged you back into the Nether Realm.

"At the same time, you learned of your true family lineage and I spoke to you, sharing all that I could. You…died during a ritual for the warlords to obtain a more powerful, alternate form of the Inferno."

The Ancient One continued summarizing up into the point that Emily had summoned.

"Yes. Yes. That's all right," Emily answered him.

The Ancient One reached out to grasp Emily's knee.

"Emily…my dear Goddaughter…I believe something is horribly wrong here. Things are not as you say they are. Yet here you are with evidence that proves otherwise. I don't know how you came to be here, but I will tell you all that I know of what has happened here."

/…/

_The Ancient One had grown up with Andrew Wolfe. They had been the best of friends. However, the man had never met and married any woman, let alone someone named Annalise. He had died protecting his home town from Talpa's invasion. This had spurred the Ancient One to come back and defeat Talpa._

_He had performed a ritual that prevented Talpa from ever coming back. However, this ritual had left him very weak for a long time and Talpa's power had split into nine armors. The nine armors had disappeared with four remaining in the Nether Realm and five in the Mortal Realm. Four men in the Nether Realm found the armors and became one with the armors._

_Knowing there were others, the four warlords opened a dynasty gate that led into the Mortal Realm. They stayed quiet among the mortals as they found the five warriors one or two at a time. _

_First, they found Cye and Kento. The two best friends had been wracked in pain for days with the armors trying to merge with them. They had found them under a bridge near unconsciousness. The warlords had helped the two mortals in becoming one with their armors. This allowed the merging to run smoothly and the armors not to kill the two._

_A bit of time passed before the six found Ryo and White Blaze. They were in a cave with White Blaze watching over an unconscious Ryo. The Wildfire bearer was freezing cold yet running an unbelievably high fever. Unable to wake the mortal, the six had split up. Dais, Kento, and Sekhmet stayed with Ryo and the tiger while Cye, Cale, and Anubis went in search of the others._

_They found Sage who had already mastered his own merging with the Halo armor. The four had returned to the others where Sage had been a great source of help. He had helped heal Ryo to bring his fever down; after all, 160° should have had him dead long ago. Once he brought the temperature down to a decently safe temperature of 102°, Ryo was conscious and confused. After they helped him with his merging, his temperature went down to normal._

_The last of the warriors was the hardest to find. It took them over a year to find him._

/…/

"Rowen? Why would it take them so long to find Rowen? He was Sage's best friend…right?" Emily interrupted.

The Ancient One nodded. "Yes. That part remains the same for both of us. Halo and Strata are close."

/…/

_With the passing of a year, the warriors thought the ninth bearer dead and the armor lost. Sage came across his best friend one day and discovered his aura was similar to that of his fellow warriors. It turned out that the Strata warrior, like his best friend, had merged with his armor without assistance. The ninth and final warrior had been hiding himself among his studies, allowing his armor to grow quiet._

_It was said the two of them had a spectacular shouting match and exchanged a few blows before Rowen joined them. With that, they planned their attack. On a single day, several gates were opened throughout different parts of the world. Those places were all simultaneously attacked by the warlords who had split up._

_The Ancient One had done his best to protect the mortals and hold off the warlords. He had used the power of the Staff of the Ancients to trap the warlords in the shattered remains of Toyama. They were able to come and go into the Nether Realm but were unable to use the other gates since they were restricted to Toyama._

/…/

Emily stared at him now just as equally confused. Her bottom lip trembled as she placed a shaky hand over his.

"I don't understand. How can this be possible?"

The Ancient One shook his head.

"I am not sure," was all he could say.

END OF CHAPTER SEVEN

PART I

**I hope there isn't too many typos or other OOPSies but it is late (and just after Daylight Saving Time). So this Tigress is going to bed after posting this chapter. **


	8. Chapter 7, Part II

**Vampire Ronin: **OOPS. Well, at least it was only two OOPS. As for the whole 'nother dimension or Emily's world changing, this is going to be one of those fan fics where you don't find out what it is until a tad later. There will be puzzle pieces left behind for you (and my other readers) to try and figure it out.

CHAPTER SEVEN

PART II

_Last time:_

_Emily stared at him now just as equally confused. Her bottom lip trembled as she placed a shaky hand over his._

"_I don't understand. How can this be possible?"_

_The Ancient One shook his head._

"_I am not sure," was all he could say._

/…/

Emily was up and pacing around the apartment. She had started mumbling in English, but had moved on to Spanish, Japanese, Latin, and ASL. Was she in an alternate universe? But then, if so, how could she be standing here alive when her parents had never met? And, best of all, HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN?!

The Ancient One watched in silence until a few minutes had passed and realized he needed to do something. On Emily's way back past the couch, the Ancient One stood up and grasped her by the elbow. Emily was caught in mid-stream of a mixture of Latin and Japanese when he jolted her to a stop. She smiled apologetically.

"It's all right, Emily. We'll find out what's happened. I promise," he assured her.

_peace_

_trust must_

"I'm going to hold you to that, Godfather," Emily told him.

The Ancient One smiled at the title as he pulled the young woman in for a hug. It warmed his heart how much Emily looked like Andrew and that Andrew had, in some time somewhere, named him her Godfather. He had known once he had seen the necklace around her neck that she had been telling the truth. Unknown to the blonde, he wore the very same and only necklace around his neck; it was well hidden under his shirt.

The two separated but stood close as they came up with their next course of action. They decided that the Ancient One would return to the Nether Realm and see if he could find out anything. Meanwhile, Emily would go to the college and her work place to see what she could find out.

The Ancient One disappeared with a promise to return that night. Emily snatched up the keys to Tom's car (she had glanced out the window earlier and, surprisingly, found it still sitting there) and whistled. White Blaze came trudging out of the room with a sleepy look on his face. He looked up at Emily who was holding the bandana that would disguise him as Cooper.

"I have to go into town, Blaze. Do you wanna come with?" Emily asked.

White Blaze perked up and walked over to Emily so she could throw the illusion back over him. He wasn't too happy when she hooked up a simple yet loose cord between them.

"There's a leash law, Blaze. I can't take a chance. At least not until I figure out if everyone knows me at Pineview," Emily explained.

White Blaze growled softly but walked nicely with Emily as they left the apartment and wandered down the stairs. Emily unhooked the cord when she let him leap into the backseat of the car. White Blaze sat down on the backseat with his front paws on the floorboard so he could poke his head between the front seats.

As she started the car and clicked her seatbelt into place, Emily reached up to scratch him behind the ears.

"Good boy, Blaze."

Emily navigated through the parking lot and out to the main road. It took no time at all to reach the school campus. After a frustrating search for a place to park, Emily finally found an empty space near a tall palm tree. She hopped out then opened the back door so White Blaze could jump out. She re-hooked the cord and, after making sure the car was locked up, headed for familiar territory.

First, she planned to visit the Counselors Cottage. When she walked in, the reception area was as she remembered and the secretary was the same sweet lady.

"Hi. How can I help you, Emily?" she asked.

She knows me. That's a good sign, Emily thought.

"Yeah. I was hoping to talk to Samuel," Emily replied.

The secretary frowned at her and informed her there was no Samuel among the Counselors. She was pretty sure there wasn't even a professor at the school with that name.

"I have an open time with Dr. Ezekiel for this afternoon if you'd like to have your bi-weekly chat early," the secretary told her after checking her computer.

Emily shook her head. At least that told her she did exist in this timeline. But the question was how? Her parents had never met. She told the secretary farewell and immediately headed for the Admissions office. Upstairs was the office where she pulled her transcript.

Emily looked over the transcript as she wandered around campus. According to the transcript, she had been attending Pineview for several years. However, she did not have a major picked. She had taken two or three classes per semester and the classes varied across the programs.

Emily folded it up and stuffed it into her pocket before dashing inside the main academic building. She spent a good amount of time on the campus, trying to figure out who was there, who wasn't there, and basically the type of person she was perceived as.

After leaving the campus, she headed for work. When they arrived at the restaurant, Emily parked and headed straight for the outside patio area. As she sat down and White Blaze laid down at her feet, she flagged down a server. She didn't recognize the server, but he evidently recognized her.

"Hiya, Emily. I thought Jay gave you time off," he said.

Emily spotted his namtag instantly which read as Caleb.

"Yeah, he did, Caleb. But I needed to talk to him. Can you let him know I'm here?" Emily asked.

Caleb nodded before disappearing inside. He returned a moment later with a bowl of water for Blaze and a drink for Emily. Caleb told her Jay was on the phone, but that he would be out in a few minutes. Emily thanked him for the beverages.

Caleb smiled before going back inside. Emily took a sip of her drink but then immediately spit it out, spraying the nearby bush with the drink. She made a gagging noise as she put the cup back down gently. White Blaze looked up at her with an eyebrow raised.

"It was Root Beer. I _hate_ Root Beer," Emily said.

The disguised tiger snorted before dropping his head down to lap up some water. Emily leaned back in her chair as she watched him. The illusion was holding strong. When others looked at White Blaze, they saw the image of the large white canine that was Cooper. When she looked at him, she saw the tiger, but if she focused on him intensely than the image would flash between canine and tiger.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden appearance of her General Manager. Jay was a middle-aged man wearing a collared shirt with the company logo and black slacks. He wore a pair of rectangular-rimmed glasses on the edge of his nose which he pushed up as he approached the table.

"Emily? I told you you could have the week off. It's no trouble at all," Jay said, sitting down in the chair across from her.

"I know and I appreciate that, but I needed to talk with you," Emily replied.

Jay nodded and gestured for her to continue.

"I remembered that you sounded odd on the phone when I mentioned my family before. Why?" Emily asked.

Jay noticeably grimaced and took a moment before speaking.

"I'm sorry, but you've never mentioned your family before. You don't talk about your parents and I didn't think you had any siblings. None of us have ever seen any photographs of your family. I know Caleb mentioned them one time and we didn't see you for two weeks after that," Jay explained, an apologetic look gracing his face.

It seemed this mystery was getting deeper and deeper. She decided to spin it along on its wheel, for now.

"My family is gone." Not a complete lie. "I went out of the country to visit the cemetery they're in." Still not a lie. "They passed away a long time ago. I don't like to talk about it." Double dosage of truth right there.

Jay nodded in understanding. He reached out to pat Emily gently on the arm.

"Thank you for sharing that with me. Who's your friend?" Jay asked, bending down to pat White Blaze on the head.

"Blaze," Emily answered automatically.

White Blaze tolerated the mortal man to pet him for a minute before laying his head back down. Although he had his eyes closed, he was listening to everything.

"Can I ask you a favor, Jay?" Emily asked.

"Of course. I can't guarantee it's something I can do, but you can still ask." Jay answered.

Emily asked him to tell her everything he knew about her. Jay found this odd, but shrugged and agreed.

"You've been working with us for six years now. I started working here as General Manager close to four years ago so the Manager before me was the one who hired you. You've worked as a Hostess, Bartender, Server, and, I believe, did a short stint as a Cook, too. You work most nights here as a Server, but about once a week I can count on you to bartend for us."

With a polite nod from Emily, Jay took a sip of her drink. He wiped his upper lip afterwards before continuing.

"You rarely work the weekends, but will offer to do it if we're in a bind. You work very well with children, especially younger ones. You've been taking classes at Pineview, but I don't think you've chosen a major. I think you know a few languages other than English. You're almost deaf in your one ear."

Emily reached up to her ear where she felt her hearing aid. She had been so absorbed with everything that she hadn't even felt the device in her ear. Things really weren't adding up here. She looked down at her gloved hands, already feeling the tingling from the scar on her one hand.

"You wear those gloves of yours all the time, but _not_ when you're working. So I know you have a nasty scar on that palm which everyone knows better than to ask you about," Jay finished.

Emily sat quietly for a moment in which Jay got called away for a phone call. When he returned, he looked reluctant to speak. Emily raised an eyebrow in question.

"I hate to do this to you, Emily. Especially after I gave you time off. But could I get you to come in this weekend?" Jay asked, wringing his hands out nervously in front of him.

Emily stood with a nod. She didn't hesitate to tell him she would be in. She would try her best to live a normal life while figuring everything out.

_trust godfather_

_future not clear_

_strong must stand_

I know I have to stand strong in adversity and I would trust my Godfather with my life, Emily thought.

/…/

Needless to say, White Blaze had _not_ been happy to see the Ancient One. Upon seeing the man, the full-sized tiger had leapt into the air at him. Emily had been close enough to catch him in mid-air and pin him down using the added strength of Hardrock. This has been a great shock to both her Godfather and White Blaze.

It had taken a while for Emily to convince White Blaze not to attack the man. He had stopped struggling under her hold when she had told him who the Ancient One was to her. After that point, White Blaze had stuck by Emily, but appeared a bit more passive. This made things difficult as Emily tried to put together a quick meal for dinner in the small kitchen.

Somehow she managed and the two of them sat down at the table with White Blaze lying underneath. The tiger lay on Emily's feet and leaned heavily against her legs. It was almost as if he was apologizing for leaping at Emily's Godfather.

"What did you find out?" the Ancient One asked.

Emily recounted all of the information back to him.

"And it's so weird, too," Emily said.

"How so?"

Emily shook her head while putting her fork down.

"It seems like my life has been meshed around. Certain things haven't changed about me. I still have my hearing aid and the scar from when Sekhmet's katana sliced the palm of my hand. Nothing had changed in the apartment yet everything outside with the exception of my vehicles has changed," Emily explained.

The Ancient One made an hmm sound in the back of his throat. He could sense a strong essence of magic burning from the interior of the apartment walls. He wanted to wait to see what it could possibly be.

"Did you find out anything?" Emily asked.

The Ancient One nodded.

"I could find no records of an Annalise or birth records of anyone matching your description. Your canine companion, this Cooper, does not exist. His race died out over a millennium ago. I cannot tell how it is you have come to be here and in what capacity," he answered.

Emily frowned as she struggled to her feet to put her dishes up. It took a small but rough shove to get White Blaze to shift off her feet. The Ancient One stood up and moved out into the living room. While Emily was busy putting plates away, he reached his hand out to touch the wall.

Yes. The magic within the walls was powerful and recently placed there, too.

I wonder if Emily is aware of its presence, the Ancient One thought as he turned around to face her as she joined him.

"Earlier, you mentioned you had restricted the warlords to Toyama. Is that permanent?" Emily inquired.

The Ancient One sighed. If only he had the power to do so.

"No, Goddaughter. I am unable to do so. And the restriction will fade tomorrow night. The warlords will be free to roam the Mortal Realm once again."

Emily held back a gasp. Depending on how long they had been restricted would determine how much anger they would take out on the mortals.

There must be something we can do, Emily thought.

"Now I must ask you a question," the Ancient One spoke up.

Emily motioned for him to speak. The Ancient One placed his fallen hand back on the wall.

"There is a great power within these walls. Do you know what it is? Or who placed it here?" he asked.

Emily started to shake her head but stopped as she felt all the energy suddenly leave her body. Her eyelids felt heavy as her knees buckled and her body started to fall. She heard White Blaze let out a sound mixed of surprise and agony.

"Emily!"

/…/

"Open your eyes, half-child," ordered a gruff voice.

Emily's eyes snapped open. She was standing in the center of a temple. In fact, upon closer inspection, she realized she was standing back in the temple she had technically died in. When she looked around her, she saw the four Shadow spirits. Turrell, the one who had spoken, stood the closest.

"Welcome back to your ancestral home, you _ungrateful half-child_," Turrell spat.

Emily quirked an eyebrow at him. What the flipping Hell? Since when had she ever acted ungrateful? Caemon, the gentle man from long ago, gave his companion a stern look.

"You may not speak to her in such a tone. The half-Shadow knows not of what we have done," Caemon reminded him.

Emily frowned. "Done? What have you done?"

Were they the reason that everything was topsy turvy? If so, spirit or not, she was going to put a hurting on them. Especially that ass Turrell.

"Now you've frightened the girl. When it wasn't our intention to do so," Felicity scolded.

"Tell me what's happened!" Emily exclaimed, losing her patience.

The three spirits snapped their gazes to her. Tears of frustration were starting to form in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. Without warning, a light hand fell down upon her shoulder. She turned her head to look at the fourth spirit, Maverick.

"Calm yourself, half-Shadow. It is because of our interference that you are still alive," Maverick told her.

Emily shook her head. "I don't understand."

"Frankly, neither do we!" spat Turrell before Felicity elbowed him in his stomach.

"What we are _trying_ to tell you," Caemon shot another stern look at Turrell "is that we don't know everything. Only parts of the bigger piece."

"Then tell me what you _do_ know."

Felicity stepped forward.

"We sensed something was coming. Something very powerful. We overcame your senses and put you into a trance. During that trance, we used our knowledge and your Shadow force to draw the symbols of a protection…blanket, of sorts. This blanket protected you from being affected from what has happened," Felicity explained.

Emily did her best to slowly follow the explanation. It still didn't clear up a lot of the confusion.

"Something powerful? What was it? Was it Talpa?" Emily asked.

Maverick squeezed her shoulder.

"We are not certain, half-Shadow. We only know that the protection did what it was _supposed to_. You are alive when you shouldn't be," Maverick reminded her.

"We are still with you. We will guide you as best as we can but we fear that these changes in the world will break our communication link," Maverick added.

"Now away with you, half-child!" Turell shouted, flicking his hand at her.

Yet again Emily felt all the energy suddenly leave her body. She was thrown into unconsciousness in a matter of seconds.

/…/

Emily groaned as she came back into consciousness.

Ancestor or not, I _hate_ that man, Emily thought.

She found herself lying on her couch with a cold, wet washcloth on her forehead. She sat up as the Ancient One suddenly appeared at her side.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Emily nodded.

"Yes. I think I'll be okay," she replied.

"Good. While you were unconscious, I took a closer look at the markings drawn into the walls. They were drawn by a Shadow. Do you know any Shadows?" her Godfather asked.

Emily nodded.

"Who?"

"Me."

The Ancient One leaned back with a surprised look on his face.

"I'm sorry?"

"It's me," Emily repeated. "I'm half Shadow."

Emily proceeded to explain what had caused her to lose[1] consciousness. The Ancient One was fascinated by the way of the Shadows. The natives of the Nether Realm knew very little about the Shadows who were believed to have died out over a hundred years ago.

"What are we going to do about the warriors? You said the restriction will fade tomorrow night," Emily asked.

The Ancient One sighed as he sat down on the couch beside her.

"I am not certain. I fear that through their many connections to the Nether Realm they will wreak havoc everywhere," he confessed.

"Why not simply seal the gates? Cut off the bridge for them?" Emily asked.

"Alas, I do not have the power to do so. Even if I did, I doubt it could stand up to the power of the armors."

"I can."

Again, the Ancient One was surprised and Emily had to explain.

"I forgot that part when I told you my history. After the ronins rescued me that second time, I used the Shadow magic to seal the dynasty gates. It's kept the four warlords from returning for almost three years."

"Do you think you could do it again?"

"Do you think you could keep the guys in Toyama while I do it?"

The Ancient One smiled. "Yes."

Emily returned the smile.

"Then we better get some rest. Tomorrow's going to be a busy day."

Emily offered for him to stay the night and he accepted.

END OF CHAPTER SEVEN

PART II

[1] – I can't begin to tell you how many fan fics I've read that use the word "loose" for "lose." I have to re-read the sentence it's in to make sure my eyes aren't playing tricks one me. Nope. So I just shake my head.

**Enjoy the newest chapter of "Little Sister Was Born Trouble."**


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